25 years of making vehicles smarter, safer and more connected

In 1999, RACV and NRMA saw what most of the industry hadn't yet: that telematics-enabled vehicles were going to fundamentally transform after sales vehicle services, a service that sat at the very heart of both organisations. Rather than react when it happened, they got ahead of it. They created something independent, not tied to both roadside club operations, not distracted by business operations, but free to focus entirely on innovation and what came next. That organisation became Intelematics.

Before factory-fitted telematics units existed in Australia, we were already proving the concept with CarCom – an aftermarket device that could track stolen vehicles, monitor battery health, unlock doors remotely and connect drivers to emergency services at the press of a button. It was early-stage technology by today's standards. But it worked. And it gave us something more valuable than a product: deep, first-hand knowledge of what drivers actually need.

The early car manufacturer programs were built on our Gen 1 telematics – factory fitted In-Vehicle Units with rear vision mirror buttons and a microphone as the human-machine interface. Simple by today's standards, but groundbreaking for the time.

By 2001, Holden Assist, fitted with eCall style telematics mirror on selected vehicles, a first of it’s kind in Australia. Toyota soon followed with the same hardware setup, launching Toyota Link in 2004. Mitsubishi took a different approach, their Lancer Evo 9 had no factory-supported unit, so we provided an updated CarCom device partnered with MT Data to deliver the same safety and security services, launching Mitsubishi Diamond Trac in 2005. Every program had strong renewal rates, and all continued until the 2G communications network was shut down by national carriers in 2018.

What those years gave us wasn't just commercial success. They marked the start of our relationship with Emergency Services, working hand in hand gave us an understanding of how telematics works in the real world. That knowledge and those partnerships have shaped everything we've built since.

With the car manufacturing business growing, we turned our R&D focus into another vehicle challenge: traffic data.

In 2007, we launched SUNA – Australia's first real-time broadcast traffic service, delivering live incident and flow information directly to vehicles and personal navigation devices via FM radio.

Covering congestion, accidents, roadworks and major events across every Australian state and territory and key New Zealand cities, SUNA quickly became the country's leading real-time traffic provider. With 90% traffic coverage across Australia and New Zealand and data drawn from thousands of road sensors and live operator monitoring – trained over time by more than 200,000 real incidents it was infrastructure built to national scale.

Millions of Australians and New Zealanders were navigating by it and sold in stores like JB Hi-Fi and Harvey Norman without ever knowing our name was behind it.

As IoT changed what drivers expected from their vehicles, we evolved with them.

In 2012, we launched our Connected Vehicle platform, pairing an OBDII device with a mobile app to bring real-time vehicle data to drivers across RACV, RACWA, Ford, Toyota and Lexus. The model worked. Our approach proved that drivers wanted genuine engagement with their vehicle, not just an emergency backup.

The interest wasn't limited to Australia. By 2014, we had established Intelematics North America. By 2016, Intelematics Europe – partnering with the AA UK, ANWB Netherlands and ÖAMTC Austria. Australian-built technology, trusted across three continents.

The automotive industry never stands still. Neither do we.

We moved to cloud infrastructure, rebuilt our platforms as modular microservices and shifted to a fully product-led model, investing where it would deliver the most for our partners and their drivers. Our architecture became faster, more flexible and better suited to the pace of the automotive industry. We began investing in machine learning and AI to solve real world problem – applying it where it matters most to keep drivers safer and more connected on the road.

In 2023, we combined with RACV's digital and product teams, bringing together decades of industry expertise with modern digital capability. That union sits on a foundation of over 100 years of RACV's advocacy in road safety. Ahead of us sits everything the connected vehicle is yet to become, and the most exciting chapter in automotive history. We plan to be at the centre of it.

Today, our focus is on leveraging the value in accident, incident and connected vehicle data, while continuing to support and maintain the mobility services our partners depend on.

Our Connected Vehicle platform, which powers eCall, bCall and iCall along with our AI-powered battery health prediction platform, are central to that ambition and will play a key role as we extend our presence across the vehicle manufacturer, government, fleet and auto club markets.

With over a million vehicles connected, thousands of emergencies supported and more than 25 years of deep expertise across Australia and New Zealand, we know what it takes to deliver connected services that genuinely work. And we're always looking for the right partners to build what's next.